Week 1 thoughts

[fearsomefour]

Spent most of the day in a D with the Ss 15-18 yards deep. Gave up the underneath stuff, classic bend but dont break D. Makes sense in a way with young safties and a veteran QB.

Austin has not adjusted to the speed of the NFL game. Should get better with more time. Also, he is going to get knocked down by glancing blows....he may end up HAVING to get bigger.

Ding and dunk passing game. Dont know if that was totally by design or if Bradford was just going through his reads.
O line was solid overall. Williams had a good game. Held my breath when Jake Long was slow getting up.

A couple of times saw D lineman drop into coverage. Seems silly to me. A vet QB usually isent going to be fooled by that and why take away from your Ds biggest strength?

I would consider giving Barksdale some practice reps with the first team. Saffold came back but is made of glass. I would be surprised if he is on the field more than half the games this year....hope I am wrong.

Two vets with idiotic plays totalling almost 40 yards in penalties (Sims was a half the distance)....need smarter play from Courtland and Sims. Slice it however you want Finnigan is a cheap player. Two personal fouls, should have had a third, gives up a long pass on which he was holding and gave up a TD. Another week like that vs. Atlanta and he should find the bench for a week. Sims talking nonsense has to go away, pointless and the peak of stupidity at a key time in the game. Team has to get much more disciplined post haste. Fisher said a lot of the penalties in the last preseason game were guys who wouldnt be there....he can say that if he wants but the lack of discipline carried over, got to nip that.

Austins' biggest contribution was a smart play blocking on the punt that went into the endzone for a touch back....that was a smart play.

Schotts play call having Austin out of the backfield after the fumble recovery was a case of trying too hard.

Two first and goals inside the red zone -3 yards on each possesion. Even with Bradford having a pick 6 go to a DT that game was nearly not close. I would like to see more Stacy in the short yard game and down by the endzone.

 

[CGI_Ram]

The defense had me pulling my hair out. In the first half... they had too many completions of uncontested variety. Playing off the line gave WR's clean/easy completions... grrr. Why do we do this?

I love Richardson's quickness and burst, but we should have mixed in others. This guy can't hold up with this kind of load.

Why is Pettis still getting the bulk of reps over Quick? This has a Goldberg feel to me and that didn't end well for those coaches.

Our run D was okay... but not as dominant as I expected against this oline and Mendenhall.

GZ put a lot of concerns behind me.

Givens wasn't a huge factor, but this was the toughest matchup he'll face.

Cook was everything we hoped for.

Kendricks chipped in nicely being "cold".

I felt like the Cards controlled the tempo most of the game. I did NOT like that! At home... week 1... the Rams should have owned the tempo. That's on Fisher.

Quinn is going to be a "name" DE going forward.

The penalties? Come on!

Austin made some plays... but I didn't see much creative with him, though. Schottenheimer was blah, for me.

Sam had good protection. Not great... just good.

 

[Lesson]

Sam wasn't sacked once, so I am happy about that. Run D and pass rush looked good, pass D didn't look so hot.

I thought as a collective unit, the offense did well. The 2 TOs were of the fluke kind, IMO. The guy who forced Cook's fumble made a great play and Sam's INT was tipped up in the air.

The ball spotting by the refs pissed me off, as well as the stupid penalties making me frustrated. However, I can't complain. The Rams won and are 1-0.

 

[RamBall]

The thing I dont get is every other team has WRs runnin free on almost every play and the Rams WRs are almost never runnin free. Is this because Schotty isnt using well thought out route combinations to create the natural picks or are the Rams WRs just not runnin precise routes?

I also noticed Quick didnt break off his route when Ari was showing blitz all the way, this may be why Pettis is getting so much playing time.

Dont get me wrong I am excited as all hell that the Rams won, just want to see more from the O.

 

[Memphis Ram]

Glad the Rams won, but:

- I still say that this team needs a legit FB for more physical play in short yardage/redzone.

- How is a bubble screen to Austin Pettis even in the playbook? He offers absolutely nothing after the catch.

- That was Tavon Austin great unveiling?

 

[CGI_Ram]

Glad the Rams won, but:

- I still say that this team needs a legit FB for more physical play in short yardage/redzone.

- How is a bubble screen to Austin Pettis even in the playbook? He offers absolutely nothing after the catch.

- That was Tavon Austin great unveiling?

Well said. Agree.

Your positives?

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Lesson]

- That was Tavon Austin great unveiling?

They took their shot with Tavon which had the PI on it. They also tried the reverse. I would have liked to see a little more creativity? Sure, but with how Arizona played I don't think this was the game for that.

 

[Selassie I]

My thoughts are simple....


1 - 0


1 - 0 Division Record


:gr:

 

[-X-]

Glad the Rams won, but:

- I still say that this team needs a legit FB for more physical play in short yardage/redzone.

- How is a bubble screen to Austin Pettis even in the playbook? He offers absolutely nothing after the catch.

- That was Tavon Austin great unveiling?

Tavon is going to have his monster game soon enough. Everyone wanted to write off the Cardinals before the season even started, but that was clearly premature. All they needed to climb back into contention was a damn QB. Their defense was always stout, and they drafted that little rat bastard specifically to cover Tavon. That's going to be a nice little matchup for years. As well as Givens/Peterson.

That bubble screen to Pettis had exactly one-half second to develop. If someone - anyone - picks up the blitzer on the A-gap, then Long gets in front of the screen and Pettis gobbles up a big gainer. That's at least what I saw, but I'll check back again to make sure I'm not full of shit. lol.

You're going to take that FB argument to the grave, aren'tcha? Well, I'll carve it on your headstone. :razzed:

 

[MTRamsFan]

A few thoughts...

Offense needs to score TDs in the red zone. Especially when Tru got the pick. We are 1st and goal at the 4 yd. line and end up with a FG. There were a few times I was scratching my head regarding the play calling. The first drive stalled due to a couple penalties. Overall I though the offense did well. Sam got hit a couple times, but no sacks and his only turnover was a fluke.

Defense needs to be more aggressive with coverage schemes. It appeared that when we were in man coverage we did better. Zone coverage seemed soft, but we have only one guy in the secondary that has played more than two years in the league. Unfortunately Finnegan had an off-day with the penalties, etc. I can understand the soft coverage somewhat due to possible tentativeness of the young guys not wanting to get beat deep. D-Line held its own for the most part. Run defense was decent.

Penalties need to be addressed. We cannot continue to give opposing teams first downs, etc. due to penalties. With a young team we are going to get penalties, but we should not be getting personal foul/unsportsmanlike, especially from the veteran players. If we continue this, it only makes it harder to win. I trust Fisher and staff will get this corrected by next week.

Overall, there were a lot of good things that happened, and yet there is plenty to improve upon. I know this, most teams make great improvements between their first and second games. Great win by a young team. Bring on SJax and the Falcons.

GO RAMS!


EDIT: The Cardinals are better than I gave them credit. If they can keep Palmer upright, he will have a great year. Their defense is good. I just hope they knock off the seacocks and whiners for us when they meet up.

 

[jap]

We have the youngest team in the NFL and we are going to an expanded version of Schotty's playbook. I expect the youngsters to struggle a bit early on. Remember these young rookies have to ramp up to speed in a league with defenders faster, stronger, quicker, and smarter than anything else they have seen before. The pre-season does NOT really prepare rookies for the NFL regular season game speed. If we make it to the playoffs, the game day intensity will assume a higher level too. The youngsters need to arrive at the point where they are no longer going through their individual plays in a procedural manner; where the play reps are "compiled" into instinct, and they can play with confidence and free.

 

[jap]

St. Louis Rams ‏@STLouisRams 50m
On the day we honored Deacon Jones, @RQuinn94's three sacks put him in first place for the first annual Deacon Jones Award. #AZvsSTL

 

[bomebadeeda]

While many across the Rams fanbase were expecting a blowout. But this team will give us fits. Yes we will win.....but it will never be as "easy" as many believe it should be. Questions about play-calling, individual performances and overall "__________ doesn't live up to my expectations" will continue. While I love Jeff Fisher's approach to the game, he'll never get mistaken for a Vermeil clone and "rah-rah" everyone to rally around (*fill in blank here*).
But we'll get efforts that will allow us to win more than we lose, And then one day we'll (as a team....) reach those lofty expectations of our fanbase....but it won't be this year....we still a bunch of grinders......

So who's with me?
Go Rams!

 

[jap]

St. Louis Rams ‏@STLouisRams 1h
"He made some huge plays today. We've seen him do it all training camp, so it wasn't a surprise to us." - Sam Bradford on @JaredCook89

St. Louis Rams ‏@STLouisRams 1h
"For a young team to endure some of the things we did today, I'm so proud of the guys. No one ever lost their cool." - Bradford #AZvsSTL

St. Louis Rams ‏@STLouisRams 1h
"We knew that we were the ones stopping ourselves and if we went out there and executed, we'd be okay." - Bradford #AZvsSTL

St. Louis Rams ‏@STLouisRams 1h
"I think they had no idea I was going to run the ball." - Bradford on the two-point conversion #AZvsSTL

St. Louis Rams ‏@STLouisRams 1h
Sam jokes the #Rams are saving the read option for Week 2. #AZvsSTL

St. Louis Rams ‏@STLouisRams 59m
With today's win, the #Rams are undefeated for the first time since Week 1 of 2006. #AZvsSTL

 

[fearsomefour]

""I also noticed Quick didnt break off his route when Ari was showing blitz all the way, this may be why Pettis is getting so much playing time.""

Exactly. I think that sort of stuff is a l lot of it. I think we will see Quick worked in more as the season goes on, even if it is one or two plays put in just for him.

I didnt expect a blowout and Palmer was good as I thought he would be. But, more good to take out of this game than bad. Will be interesting going into Atlanta, a team that a whole bunch of people have picked for the Super Bowl, with the Falcons 0-1. They will be chippy and hungry. But, their D still is not great I think.
Arizona plays their LB up on the line a lot, they brought pressure and played in the box a lot. It will be interesting to see how Cooks success might (already) start to loosen some things up downfield. I would also expect the running game to get more on track next week.

 

[WvuIN02]

I think the most important thing is this:

There were several dumb penalties, some boneheaded plays (the Cook fumble and pick 6), and the Rams STILL found a way to win. That is the hallmark of great teams. When great teams have bad games they usually still find a way to pull the win out. In years past Rams teams would have been down and folded. I think that comes from one thing: confidence in their ability.

This team and coaching staff knows they have the talent to overcome. If they had played a great game (no idiotic Finnegan penalties and turnover) they would have won by 2-3 touchdowns.

Cook in this offense might be the most unstoppable tight end in football. Cant wait to see the Rams here in Atlanta next week!

 

[albefree69]

CGI_Ram with his views:
Our run D was okay... but not as dominant as I expected against this oline and Mendenhall.

I haven't seen the game yet but I was watching (sort of) ESPN's Gamecast and on many of the successful running plays it said that Mendenhall went over RT. Isn't that running through Langford or do I have that screwed up?

 

[ramsince62]

Glad the Rams won, but:

- I still say that this team needs a legit FB for more physical play in short yardage/redzone.

- How is a bubble screen to Austin Pettis even in the playbook? He offers absolutely nothing after the catch.

- That was Tavon Austin great unveiling?

Tavon is going to have his monster game soon enough. Everyone wanted to write off the Cardinals before the season even started, but that was clearly premature. All they needed to climb back into contention was a damn QB. Their defense was always stout, and they drafted that little rat bastard specifically to cover Tavon. That's going to be a nice little matchup for years. As well as Givens/Peterson.

That bubble screen to Pettis had exactly one-half second to develop. If someone - anyone - picks up the blitzer on the A-gap, then Long gets in front of the screen and Pettis gobbles up a big gainer. That's at least what I saw, but I'll check back again to make sure I'm not full of shit. lol.

You're going to take that FB argument to the grave, aren'tcha? Well, I'll carve it on your headstone. :razzed:

Yes, there is little doubt that Tavon will have a monster game or two some where along the line and I suspect some spectacular punt returns and receptions before the snow fly's.

That said, just as with R. Bush, the NFL presents different challenges than in college. Bush never really dominated as he did in college and I suspect, neither will Tavon. He'll always excite and excel in "space", the challenge will be to find that space, especially with the opposition well aware of his presence.

In any event, D's will always have to account for him and that's a good thing. He has his roll and it's an important one, but I doubt he'll ever amass the numbers he did at WV, i.e., Oklahoma, but again, that's to be expected.

 

[iced]

Positives:

-Cook...loved it.

-Pass pro, kept sam upright.

- Richardson, at first...

negs:

-I understand it's patrick peterson, but where the hell was givens...

-richardson: i did not like him coming back into the game with the toe injury...that's important to speed and burst, which i felt he clearly lacked when he came back in.

-corners and back end: playing off coverage so much...why? not even challenging the corners.

-When we blitzed, we were effective most of the time..i know the td to fitzie was on a blitz,but for the most part, we didn't give up stuff on the blitzes

-Zone coverage: wwhhyyyyyyy so much!! I thought we were a pressure, man up team... clearly zone over the middle is not this teams strong suit

 

[Rabid Ram]

Givens did his job he kept pp out of the game and allowed cook and co to do what they do.

Def i think alot of our issues on d was in part to long not getting his constant pressure on the qb to me it shows how pressing the QB is just as important as a sack